The Cleveland Browns defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night, securing the first playoff win since 1994. The fanbase celebrated the victory, as did a fictional general manager from Draft Day. Kevin Costner offered a shout-out to his “former” team after the memorable performance.
Brown posted a photo that showed him in character as Sonny Weaver Jr. from 2014’s film. “Congrats to the [Cleveland Browns]! Those ‘magic beans’ are looking pretty good now! [Cleveland Browns] [Draft Day]” Costner wrote in the caption of his Instagram post. He previously “helped” out the NFL team by selecting Ohio State linebacker Vontae Mack (Chadwick Boseman) first overall, stunning the rest of the league.
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The Browns entered Sunday night’s game as underdogs against the Steelers. However, the rushing attack accounted for over 100 yards and two touchdowns while quarterback Baker Mayfield threw for three touchdowns of his own. The defense also forced multiple errors by the Pittsburgh offense, recovering a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown and intercepting Ben Roethlisberger four times. The end result was a 48-37 win and a trip to Kansas City.
While Costner and fans of the Browns celebrated the victory, some NFL players did not respond in a similar fashion. Steelers wide receiver Chase Claypool, for example, had strong comments about his AFC North rivals. He proclaimed that the Browns would lose to the Chiefs in a decisive fashion.
“Bad loss, but um, the Browns are going to clapped next week,” Claypool said in a TikTok video. “So it’s all good.” He echoed the sentiments of teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster, who previously said that the “Browns is the Browns.” The wide receiver doubled down and said that he doesn’t regret making the comment despite suffering a playoff loss.
“I think they’re still the same Browns teams I play every year,” Smith-Schuster told reporters. “I think they’re nameless gray faces. Yes, they have a couple good players on their team, but at the end of the day … the Browns is the Browns.”
Despite defeating the Steelers and moving on to the Divisional Round, the Browns will once again be underdogs. The Chiefs are the defending Super Bowl champions and boast home-field advantage after going 14-2 in the regular season, largely due to Patrick Mahomes and a powerful offense. With the game mere days away, the Browns are 10-point underdogs. Although Costner would likely celebrate another victory by his former team.
